Heart of Ashes
by florhys
Summary: Sequel to Empire of Storms. A fan based theory. Have fun!
1. Summary

_Aelin Ashryver Galathynius._

 _The firehearted assassin-queen of Terrasen made a promise to the dead princess of Ellywe that she would not let her fire burn out, ever. Aelin is threading a very dangerous line trying to keep up that promise, as every second passes by, the pain amplifies, the numbness follows and the darkness darkens around her flame.  
_ _But the Dark Queen is barely toying with the fire breathing bitch queen,  
_ _and has darker plans ahead._

 _Rowan Whitethorn Galanthynius never makes the same mistake twice. He lost Lyria and he won't dare lose Aelin to the Dark Queen. Together with Lorcan, Elide and Gavriel, he follows a a barely existent trail flickering like an ember in his heart-the bond._

 _The Thirteen are in search of the hiding Crochans, to raise an army to defend Terrasen and the Wastes, whereas former heir to the Blackbeak clan, Manon and King of Adarlan, Dorian hide under the noses of Valg King Erawan in search of the final wyrdkey, barely keeping their bodies to themselves._

 _In Terrasen, Lysandra plays a very dangerous game in the skin of the Queen while barely leashing the feelings in her heart for the Queen's cousin, Aedion who spends his time slaughtering Ilken out of rage._

 _Meanwhile, Chaol and Nesryn have returned from the southern continent only to be deceived that the Queen leading their army is Aelin herself._

 _Battles are fought at different places,  
and the heir of fire's sacrifice will not be in vain_

 _The final 'fanfiction' in the series weaves together the possible ending to the Throne of Glass series as imagined by an avid fan who cannot wait for the final book._

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 **DISCLAIMER: All characters/excerpts/flashbacks and the concept belongs to Sarah J Maas. I DO NOT OWN any of the characters other than the minor characters whose names have never been mentioned in the previous books. The content of this story IS COMPLETELY MY interpretation of what might or might not happen in the final book of the series. THIS is fanfiction following the events of Empire of Storms and will contain important scenes from the entire throne of glass series whose copyright belongs to Sarah J Maas. That being said, all the events/ideas taking place in this book are mine.**

 **THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE PREVIOUS BOOKS so I suggest you read those before coming here. I wrote this out of desperation and I'm sure many of you want to read theories about what might happen. This just is my version!**

 **find me on**

 **wattpad : nightcourts**

 **fictionpress: rhysand**

 **tumblr: flo-rhys**


	2. Chapter 1

**_Part One:_**

 ** _Flicker of light_**

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 **Chapter One**

 _My name is A_ _elin Ashryver Galathynius. I cannot be broken.  
_ _My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. I will not be broken.  
_ _My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. I will fight this._

An earthquake of pain resonated throughout Aelin's body, numbness followed like the aftershock. A sense of nausea overwhelmed her senses and the heavy iron mask strapped over her face suffocated her. She was pinned to the coffin thoroughly and no amount of Arobynn Hamel's training seemed to have been of much use to her. Wicked as she may have been, Maeve left no stone unturned in capturing Aelin. And as it turned out, Maeve also had succeeded in making Aelin feel like an absolute living corpse.

Endovier seemed like heaven next to this coffin alone, Aelin felt a chill down her wounded spine barely thinking about what lay ahead. But she had survived Endovier and Arobynn's endless torture of a training and she would survive this too. She had to survive this. Or she would die trying. But Endovier had been one thing, the overseer had been a mere human being-pathetic, but human. But Cain and his immortal fae strength was another thing-a much worse fate it seemed. And it would get worse, once Maeve came to realize that she had been deceived right under her nose. Aelin tried not to think of the wrath she might then have to endure. She prayed to god Rowan was in Terrasen, and that Gavin and the Silent Assassins along with Rolfe's armies were by his side. She wished Rowan would act like the king he'd just become and lead Terrasen to victory. She hoped with all her heart that saving _her_ would come only after that. She would wait for him, however long it took him, she would wait for her mate, her husband and her king.

Her head banged against the floor of the coffin, sending waves of pain throughout her body. They had dropped the coffin and clearly had not been very subtle about it. The blood once again trickled down her body like a young river and Aelin bit her lip to hold in a cry. Celeana Sardothien had survived Endovier being human, and Aelin had to do the same.

The coffin's lid remained intact for a few minutes, before she felt it being pushed open. It didn't make a difference anyway, the iron mask had done it's job well, for darkness still surrounded her. No sooner was her body hauled out of the coffin by two very firm hands and made to kneel once again. The mask remained strapped to her face, and the weight of it prevented her from keeping her chin held high. Her neck was aching, and she felt like it might as well dislocate from her body considering how she couldn't keep it from lolling around.

"Aah, such a pleasant scene. I've waited for this too long... like they say, patience is the key. Funny how it's also the key to the wyrdkeys. Fenrys! Retrieve the word keys from the prisoner!" Maeve ordered Fenrys, who had been so close to vomiting his guts out. Fenrys couldn't restrain himself and surrendered to her command, like a puppet he searched Aelin for the wyrdkeys. After throughly searching her, his face grew paler than it already was, Aelin, it seemed had outsmarted them once again. She did not have the wyrdeys. "Fenrys! What's the matter?" Maeve snapped, her tone no longer sickly sweet. "I'm afraid she does not have the key, your highness." Fenrys said, refusing to make eye contact with the queen.

"You useless tool! Cain! Search her, I don't care if you have to skin her to do so but she has to have the wyrdkeys!" Maeve said, her anger laced with pure fury. Of course! Of course the fire breathing bitch had outsmarted her! How could she have forgotten Doranelle? Of course Aelin knew that her sole focus would be on capturing her and in doing so the wyrdkeys were safely sneaked away.

Cain had not been as gentle as Fenrys when it came to searching her and a tear slipped down Aelin's face before she knew it. For once she was grateful of the mask to cover her weakness.

"Your highness, I'm afraid she does not have the keys." Cain said finally. Maeve clenched her jaw. "Well then, why don't we continue with the whipping once again Cain? How about till she blurts out the goddamned answer!" Maeve said, her tone a lethal sort of calm.

Fenrys couldn't hold it in anymore. One look at Cain's face, who looked like a child on his birthday, and Fenrys vomited. Maeve scrunched her face in disgust-she wanted to send him away but couldn't resist the urge to see his expression when his beloved Whitethorn's _mate_ was whipped to insanity.

"Now Aelin, you can stop the pain and have some healing in fact if you tell me, right now, where you hid the wyrdkeys." Maeve bargained. Aelin mustered up her signature grin. "Never in a million years, bitch." Aelin spat-the whipping almost simultaneous with her words. Aelin couldn't help but cry out as the whip made contact with her already jarred skin.

 _Again.  
Again.  
Again.  
Again._

Aelin lost count after the fifth whipping and within seconds, true darkness engulfed her body. They didn't notice, the mask prevented that. Cain went on and on and on and began panting, yet a single cry of pain did not emerge from Aelin's lips.

"Enough." Fenrys whimpered.

Fenrys' heart stopped dead in his chest when he realized Aelin had stopped responding at all.

"Enough." He said louder this time.

"Cain." Maeve ordered, indicating him to stop. "She done for the day. No use whipping if the person can't feel it at all." She murmured under her breath. "Lock her back in the coffin. You know what to do." She said before dismissing them.

Fenrys had never seen such torture in all his years. His whole body was sick and Aelin-he knew it was selfish of him to even pray for her to be alive, for at this point he knew, death would be far peaceful to Aelin than what Cain had in store for her. The whipping had only been the beginning.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Rowan Whitethorn Galanthynius had lost her scent completely. It had been three days since Maeve had stolen his _mate_ from him and Rowan had still been blanketed by grief and rage among other emotions.

The truth about Lyria had enraged him, how could he have walked right into Maeve's trap? To her, Lyria had been just another pawn to secure one of the strongest fae warriors to do her bidding-of course he should have known. He cried out in frustration, and all the little birds perched on the trees flew away in fear of the mighty hawk.

A roar responded his cry from far below, and Rowan flew down, transforming himself just before landing. Gavriel stood in front of him, already transformed, along with Lorcan-who made Rowan furious just by standing there, and Elide who looked sick.

"We have word from Doranelle." Gavriel began, and Elide broke out a sob. Rowan's heart stopped beating. He stood perfectly still, paralyzed, fearing the words that were to follow. "Maeve is not in Doranelle." He began. Rowan let out a shaky snort of relief. "Of course, why would she be there? It's like inviting us to rip her apart!" Rowan said, his tone light, but the underlying tension was clear.

"She's not hiding from us anymore,-" Gavriel said, cautiously, as though Rowan was a cracked glass, on the verge of shattering. It was true though, Rowan did feel like he was about to snap completely. "She knows Aelin does not possess the wyrdkeys, that she fooled her." Lorcan said quickly, irritated by Gavriel's caution. Rowan shot a glare at Lorcan. He didn't bother acknowledging the beast who had practically gift wrapped Aelin for Maeve, and no matter how-no matter how Lorcan regretted his actions, Rowan could never forget what he'd done. He was barely keeping his temper on a leash. For now, they needed Lorcan.

Elide started sobbing harder.

"What is it?" Rowan snapped, looking at Elide. Lorcan took a step forward in warning but Elide ignored him completely. "Fenrys sent word from a mortal." Gavriel said, his focus fixed on the ground. "Aelin, she was whipped again, at least twenty times according to Fenrys, and she didn't open her mouth about the wyrdkeys... and he thinks she isn't doing well. Maeve had her 'coffin' sent to Cain's personal chambers for other tricks that will make her spill the truth and-Fenrys fears Aelin isn't doing well." Gavriel said quickly.

The blind rage that enveloped Rowan soon turned to panic, and before he realized it, ice covered the ground they were standing on and the winds were raging on them. "Rowan." Gavriel began, trying to comfort Rowan. Elide knew then, that they couldn't tell Rowan what had really happened to Aelin, she knew that Rowan would rip apart the world if he knew that Aelin had stopped responding to the pain, that she might have as well surrendered herself to the darkness. No. They needed hope, and telling Rowan that, would shatter his hope for finding her, and she would not let that happen.

She felt Lorcan's body envelop her shivering self before she knew it. She pushed him away in disgust but he stood his ground. Rowan was unraveling and Lorcan wanted to protect Elide from the wrath Rowan would suffer in the moments passing by.

Rowan could control his magic, but he didn't want to, he was in so much pain, so many emotions were swirling about him, emotions he couldn't control, most of all, his primal fae instincts yearned for his other half, his mate.

"Rowan, please, please come to your senses." Gavriel begged. Rowan could barely hear him over his rage. Suddenly, something clicked in Elide's mind. "Rowan." She said, her voice breaking him out of his rage.

Gavriel let out a sigh of relief. "About Carranam, is there any way you can send your energy to her using the blood oath?" Elide asked. "Considering all that iron, I doubt it would work but there's no harm in trying." Lorcan replied.

Rowan gave Elide a long considering look.

"Does Carranam still work with the three of you?" Elide asked.

"We don't know, we were bound by Maeve's blood oath, which is why it may or may not be possible, why?" Gavriel asked.

"I think I have an idea, an Idea that might just overpower even iron."

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 **Hey Guys! I'm really sorry for the short chapter but I had to get it out! I have so many theories, and I'm doing every bit of my research ah! Thankyou so much for the love! Please do continue supporting me!**

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